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Muhammad Ali

Click on each clue for its answer.

  1. The line "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" is famous enough, and is followed by this.

    "Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see."

  2. When Ali converted to Islam, this legendary sports journalist known for his "Down Goes Frazier!" line was among the first to accept his new name.

    Howard Cossell

  3. While presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this US President jocularly gestured to Ali if he wants to box. Ali replied with a "Are you crazy?" signal.

    George W. Bush

  4. Snopes.com lists the veracity of this story as undetermined but its such a good one that I'll go ahead anyway.

    On a flight, when told to fasten his seat belt, Ali told the stewardess, "Superman don't need no seat belt." This was the famous retort.

    "Superman don't need no plane either."

  5. Ali's first professional defeat was at the hands of this man on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

    Joe Frazier

  6. Person to whom Ali said: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me."

    Will Smith

  7. If Ali's fight with Foreman was 'The Rumble in the Jungle' and his last fight with Frazier was 'Thrilla in Manila', this is the nickname with which his first fight with Frazier is called.

    'Fight of the Century'

  8. Memorable title of the 1996 documentary about the circumstances of the Rumble in the Jungle fight between Ali and Foreman.

    When We Were Kings

  9. Ali claimed that when he was denied service at a "whites-only" establishment, he threw his Olympic medal into this river, the largest tributary of the Mississippi.

    Ohio river

  10. Ali won an gold medal in the Olympics of this city/year.

    Rome, 1960

  11. This legendary English broadcaster and talk show host whose last name has a sad connection to Ali's health said that Ali was his most memorable guest.

    Michael Parkinson

  12. As of 2014, Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 37 different occasions, second only to this man from a different sport.

    Michael Jordan

  13. This quiz cannot be complete without asking Ali's birth name.

    Cassius Clay

  14. Ali lit the torch at the Olympics of this city.

    Atlanta (1996)

  15. The two-letter term for the controversial blow that ended the second bout of Ali and Liston is also the title of Sonny Liston's 2008 biopic.

    "Phantom punch"

  16. This phrase meaning "Ali, kill him" was used by Ali's supporters during the run-up to the Rumble in the Jungle fight.

    "Ali bomaye!"

  17. In Ali's opinion while he was the greatest heavyweight ever, this great was the greatest boxer ever, an opinion corroborated by several sportswriters.

    Sugar Ray Robinson

  18. In a 1978 comic book, Ali teams up with this person to fight an alien invasion.

    Superman

    (Superman vs. Muhammad Ali)

  19. Photographer who snapped the iconic picture of Ali taunting Liston who is lying on the floor on May 25, 1965 in Lewiston, Maine.

    Neil Leifer

  20. Daughter of Ali and Veronica Porsche who achieved renown as a boxer.

    Laila Ali

  21. The Rumble in the Jungle fight of Ali with Foreman took place in this African country and which at that time was ruled by this dictator.

    Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo); Mobuto

  22. Boxing coach and cop Joe E. Martin advised Ali to pick up boxing when this possession of his was stolen.

    Bicycle

  23. A museum dedicated to Ali opened in 2005 in this city where he was born in 1942.

    Louisville, Kentucky

  24. Number of bouts in which Ali and Frazier fought with each other, with this overall result.

    3 (Ali won 2-1)

  25. Following a taunt, Joe Frazier wrestled Ali to the floor in 1974 on this popular television sports show hosted by Jim McKay.

    Wide World of Sports

  26. Talking about this noted technique of Ali, writer Normal Mailer said, "Standing on one's feet, it is painful to absorb a heavy body punch even when blocked with one's arm. The torso, the legs and the spine take the shock. Leaning ... however, Ali can pass it along; the ... will receive the strain."

    Rope-a-dope

  27. Chuck Wepner who lost to Ali but in 15 tough rounds is said to be the inspiration behind this 1976 movie.

    Rocky

  28. In 1971, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Ali's guilty conviction for avoiding draft, this judge, the first African American justice, abstained.

    Thurgood Marshall

  29. Never short on words, this is how Ali described his Thrilla in Manila fight with Joe Frazier: "It will be a ___ and a Thrilla and a ___, when I get that ___ in Manila."

    These are the three missing rhyming words.

    Killa; chilla; gorilla

  30. He trained 4 of the 5 boxers that beat Ali, and famously ended the last fight of Ali-Frazier as he realized Frazier could no longer see.

    Eddie Futch

  31. In his professional career, Ali was defeated by 5 men. Frazier is the obvious one. Name 2 of the other 4.

    Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes, Trevor Berbick

  32. This legendary trainer who died in 2012 was the cornerman of most of Ali's fights.

    Angelo Dundee